An anonymous reader writes:
MIT News reports today that they can produce complex electronic circuits
from molybdenum
disulfide (MoS2), a material that could have many more
applications. Possessing exceptional strength and other novel properties, the
form of MoS2 — "graphene" is a planar
sheet structure merely one atom thick. Coming up with ways to use the
substance has captured the imagination of researchers around the world.
Jointly funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Microelectronics
Advanced Research Corporation Focus Center for Materials, the National Science
Foundation and the Army Research Laboratory, a deep focus on MoS2 and other two-dimensional (2D) materials, have
revealed excellent
electrical and optical properties. Sharing many of graphene’s advantages,
specific properties of MoS2 allows it to overcome challenges of
zero-bandgap graphene. Tomás Palacios, the Emmanuel E. Landsman Associate
Professor of EECS, suggests this opens the door to an entirely new domain of
production. Palacios believes this may be the most exciting advance in
electronics in 20-30 years. A whole family of two-dimensional materials may
be on the horizon and yield breakthroughs in optics, electronics, and stuctural
materials.